Memories of Those Who Mattered
by MackenzieW
Summary: For his 17th birthday, Harry receives a book that shows him funny anecdotes from his parents' past. Next: Happy Holidays!
1. Prologue

_Memories of Those Who Mattered_

By Mackenzie W

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter obviously. I do own Harmony Anderson/Lupin and Kristin (Kiki) Wright. 

A/N: This will be a series of stories, but they won't be in chronological order. Reason given below! And this is slightly AU because I kept Sirius alive, but he's way too important to my story to kill him off. And some references are made to may bigger work, where we will fully meet Harmony and Kiki. Thanks! ~*Mac*~

            Harry Potter sat, staring at the nighttime sky. It was the summer before his seventh year at Hogwarts and he was stuck in 4 Pivet Drive once again. But he had been rescued from the monotony of life with the Dursleys before; he had spent part of the past two summers at his godfather's house. 

            Last summer was more interesting as two new people had joined the group that met at 12 Grimmald Place. Well, rejoined. Harry remembered the scene that had greeted him as he stepped into the house with Remus Lupin, an old teacher of his as well as his father's best friends. 

            Sirius Black was tied to a chair, ponytail holders wrapped around his long black hair. Some were braided, some weren't, but it was quite a sight to see. And standing behind Sirius were two women Harry had never seen before. They were about the same height and age. One had blonde hair that feel pin straight to her shoulder; her green eyes sparkled with laughter. The other had midnight black hair that fell in waves past her shoulders and had streaks of blue and purple running through it. Her golden eyes had caught Harry's attention.

            "Harry," Lupin had said. "This is Harmony Anderson." He pointed to the blonde woman. "And this is Kristin Wright. Also known as Kiki." Now, he had motioned to the brunette. "They were your mother's best friends at Hogwarts." 

            Harry was surprised to see his mother's friends. Everyone talked about his father's friends, but his mother never seemed to have reappearing friends. Not until Harmony and Kiki. Harry soon learned that Harmony and Remus were dating again, after a break of fifteen years. Since Harry's parents had died. 

            Harmony had then became his new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, rivaling Lupin's classes his third year. The two were now married, Harry had attended their June nuptials before they sent him back to his aunt and uncle. Rumors between Harry and his two best friends Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley suggested that Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of their school, was going to also hire Lupin to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts with his wife. 

            Harry blinked as he thought he saw an owl flying towards his window. He opened it, and allowed the bird to swoop down on his desk. It was Kiki's beautiful snow owl, Polar. He untied the package from the bird and then allowed Polar into Hedwig's, his snow owl, cage. The bird hooted in thanks and began to drink the water.

            Harry opened up the letter, written to him by Sirius:

_Dear Harry,_

_Happy early birthday! I finished your present early, so I figured I'd send it to you. Hope you enjoy it._

_We're all doing fine here. Remus and Harmony are acting like a married couple should, driving me and Kiki insane. That's okay. You know how long it took to get them to that altar._

_In other news, we're still waiting for the Ministry to catch Peter, so I'm still a prisoner in my own house. But I guess that's better than being a prisoner in Azkaban._

_I hope you enjoy the present. We all worked hard on this book._

_Siirus___

Harry pulled off the paper to find a book. He opened the book to find another note from Sirius: _In hopes of passing on memories that should live on, we, the surviving members of the Marauders and honorary Marauders, pass on the memory of our dear friends Lily and James Potter to their son. _

_Hope you learn something Harry. Sirius, Remus, Harmony, and Kiki_

_PS: They aren't in chronological order since Sirius won't let anyone else near the book! –Kiki_

            Harry opened the book to find the pages blank. Was this a mistake? But then the book began to glow and Harry realized that the group had charmed the book. He wasn't going to read about his parents; he was going to see his parents! He excitedly waited for which secret the book would first show…


	2. How One Dog Can Make Your Date Fun!

Story One: Dinner Disaster for Four

A/N: Please go easy on me. I'm not an usual Harry Potter fanfic author. This is a work because of a promise to a friend. So, Alexagrl, this is for you!! --Mac

            Remus Lupin was scared out of his mind. He had faced many things in his short lifetime: being bitten by a werewolf at a young age, going through those transformations, potions class, sharing a room with James Potter and Sirius Black…many, many horrifying things. Then how come he couldn't handle a simple date with a woman who had been his friend for a long time now?

            His date certainly had picked up on his feelings. She decided to ignore him and concentrated on her menu. Her honey blonde hair was tied up into a bun, and her green eyes were trying to hide her annoyance with Lupin. She was obviously taking their date better than he.

            It was a month since they started dating, so she couldn't understand why Remus was so nervous. She was surprised when he had actually asked her out. She accepted, wondering if two certain wizards had anything to do with the sudden spark of bravery. The wait was starting to torture her since Lily Evans wouldn't let her ask him out. "Do it properly, Harmony," she warned.

            Harmony reached over to steady Remus' shaking hand. "Remus, it's only me. Harmony. Harmony Anderson. I've been your friend since our first year at Hogwarts, and your girlfriend for a month. Stop shaking!" Remus grasped her hand and gave her an uneasily smile. "See, that's somewhat better," Harmony joked.

            A black blur caught Harmony's eye. 'Was that a dog?' she thought. Shaking the thought off, Harmony smiled at the waiter. "Can I take your order?" the waiter asked. Harmony nodded and ordered the chicken francaise, while Remus ordered the steak. "Excellent choices," the waiter said, before walking off. 

            The two began talking about their friend Sirius latest prank and how awful it turned out. "Stuck in my chimney, howling at the top of his lungs!" Harmony said, Remus bursting into laughter. "I had to leave him there for another twenty minutes, too."

"Why?"

"I needed Vaseline to use as a lubricant and all the near-by drug stores were closed!" 

"He must've been ready to kill you."

"Kill me? I was ready to kill him!" 

            The waiter walked up with their orders. "The chicken francaise for the lady and the steak for the gentleman," he said. Suddenly, the same black blur caught Harmony's eye again, but this time the waiter and Remus' as well. "What was that?" the waiter asked. When they were assured that it was nothing, they turned back to their food, but Remus' steak was gone! "Odd, sir, but I'll get you another one." The waiter left.

            "How could've my steak disappear so quickly?" Remus asked, furious. "Remus, calm down. Maybe the waiter thought he had the steak, but he didn't."

"Harmony, didn't you see the steak?"

"Well…"

"I don't know." Remus placed his head on the table. The waiter returned with another steak. 

            This time, Harmony's water spilled, knocked off the table. "What the-?" she shouted. She grabbed her napkin and began to wipe herself off. The waiter helped, apologizing profusely. Remus retrieved the fallen glass, so nobody saw the little black dog jump on to the table and steal Remus' steak.

            "I'm still so sorry Ma'am."

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a little water. It's already half way dried anyway."

"I'll get you another one anyway. Sir, where's your steak?" The waiter stared at the plate in amazement. "I know I brought you one. Oh why does all of this have to happen on my evaluation night? Is this some new part to the test?" The waiter left. 

            Remus shook his head. "I don't know why it keeps disappearing on me. Its like someone is out to make sure I don't eat steak today. Why? Why? WHY?" he shouted. Harmony grabbed his hand. "Remus, people are staring. Just calm down," she instructed. He took several deep breaths. "Good. Now, I'm going to the ladies room. Try not to destroy anything," she said, remembering the one time Remus finally lost his cool and let his inner wolf take over.

            Harmony entered the bathroom and waited on the impossibly long line that had formed. 'Well, if my dinner isn't cold by now, it certainly will be,' she thought. She finally found a stall and went to wash her hands. At the sink next to her stood a familiar redhead. "Lily!"

"Harmony!" The two embraced and resumed fixing themselves up. "So, what brings you here?" asked Harmony. Lily smiled. "James owes me one."

"Why?"

"I found him in my chimney with no good reason."

"Funny. I found Sirius in mine recently."

"See? No good reason."

"So, you had him take you out for dinner?"

"Absolutely. Though he keeps saying something is stealing his dinner."

"So is Remus. The waiter is bringing him his third steak." The two women laughed.

            Harmony and Lily left the bathroom at the same time, walking together to their tables which happened to be close by the entire time. Harmony sat down. "James and Lily are here. Apparently Sirius wasn't alone in his whole little scheme involving the chimney," she said. "You finally got your steak?" Remus nodded and said, "Bon appetite." 

            They finished their (cold) dinners, not caring how long it took them to get it. They continued to chat about different things: their days together at Hogwarts ("Hey, Remus. Blue hair"), Sirius' last birthday ("Why isn't anyone saying 'surprise?'" "Today's your birthday? CRAP!"), and why Remus steak kept disappearing ("I swear it was a DOG!"). That and the pool they and their friends had going on how long it would take James to propose to Lily. "I still say a month more."

"I know James. Two months."

"I know Lily. Next month."

"And I know Sirius," Remus said. Together they replied, "Two weeks."

            "It wasn't my idea!" came James' squeal. "Uh oh," Harmony muttered under her breath. "Well, I'm sure Sirius twisted your arm to perform," Lily screeched. Harmony and Remus watched as one of the waiters walked over and took all sharp objects off their table. "Hey, Lil," Harmony called out. "Been here before?"

"Why yes. It's our favorite restaurant. How did you know?" Lily responded. "Just a lucky guess," Harmony replied. The other two resumed their arguing.

            A black dog trotted up to the table and jumped up. He barked once at Harmony, then at Remus. "Remus, love, does this cur look familiar?" Another bark. "Yes, it does, Harmony. Maybe we saw it in the gutter somewhere." Two barks. "Bring it on, DOG!" With that, the dog grabbed Remus' wallet, jumped off the table and ran away. "Told you it was a dog! Come back here!"

            Harmony watched as Remus chased the dog, whom was already identified as Sirius, soon joined by James. The one thing they didn't notice was the shaking candelabra Sirius had caused. The table cloth soon caught fire, flames dancing up in front of Harmony. She merely pushed herself away from the table and watched them dance. "Of course this is how my date would turn out. I'm friends with the notorious troublemaker Sirius Black," she mused to herself.

            "Care to take James' seat. I have a feeling he and Remus are going to be a while. Besides, why sit at a table flambé?" Lily asked her friend, as waiters ran over to douse the table. Harmony smiled and moved to the table. "Well, it looks like our dates have turned out well," Lily mused, taking a sip of her wine. She turned around. "JAMES POTTER, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" The waiter walked by and took away the candelabra from Lily's table. Harmony asked for hers and Remus' check. 

            Harmony paid for the dinner using her own muggle money, earned from the sale of her new book. It had been a little passion of hers since she was at Hogwarts and Professor McGonagall as well as Professor Dumbledore encouraged her to continue. She finally submitted a story, one drawn from English history and combining her knowledge of the magical world, and it was a best seller. 

            She caught her boyfriend by the door and dragged him outside. Harmony opened her car door and unlocked Remus'. They drove partially in silence until Remus spoke. "I'm sorry this date turned into one from hell."

"Don't be. It's a certain dog's fault."

"I guess. But first, we needed your car because mine suddenly vanished."

"Probably 'borrowed' by Sirius to use."

"Then you had to pay for dinner."

"Because Sirius stole your wallet. Listen, Remus, don't beat yourself up over this."

            They pulled up to Remus' house, only a few blocks away from Harmony's, Sirius and James', as well as Lily's. Sitting in the driveway was Remus' car. And sitting on the porch was a black dog. "Snuffles returns," Remus said. "I hope he was wearing his collar while out." 

Harmony giggled at the remembrance of the first Christmas after she, their friend Kiki and Lily found out the boys' alternate animal egos. They had bought Sirius a dog collar as a joke and named him Snuffles. Later, they formally registered him at James' address.

Harmony stooped down to pet him. "You look so innocent, yes you do," she cooed to him. Snuffles came to lick her. "Hey, mutt, she's my girlfriend. Paws off," Remus told the dog. Snuffles growled at the wizard. "Look Remus, Snuffles found your missing wallet," Harmony said sweetly, picking up the drool covered wallet. "Wonderful," Remus said, holding his wallet away from him.

Harmony stood up and glanced at the sky. "It looks like it is going to rain," she said. Remus nodded before going inside. Snuffles looked at Harmony, expecting a reward for "finding" Remus' wallet. "Oh, you want a reward do you? Well, you will certainly get something," Harmony said. 

A half hour later, it was pouring outside. Harmony and Remus sat inside, snuggled up on the couch watching a movie on television. Every so often, scratching came from the back door. "Think Sirius is enjoying his reward?'" Harmony asked. "I don't know, but I know I am," Remus replied, kissing her. The two remained like that for the rest of the movie. 


	3. Here's the Church, Here's the Steeple, O...

Story Two: "The Wedding that Almost Wasn't"

            Five finely dressed figures stood before an altar in a little church. Three figures were men; Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew to be exact. Peter paced in front of the altar, Remus stood with the two women and Sirius decided to lounge on the altar's steps. "Sirius, that's disrespectful," one of the woman, named Kristin Wright, reprimanded. Sirius merely stuck his tongue out at her.

            Their outfits were fit for a wedding party. The women wore long, cream colored dresses that resembled Roman togas. Kiki, as Kristin preferred to be called, had added cream colored strips to her midnight black hair, adding a contrast to her curls. The woman standing next to her was Harmony Anderson, whose own blonde hair was also curled. Harmony had added little jewels to her hair, each catching the light. The vests of the men's jackets were also cream colored. They were prepared for a wedding, but the church seemed to say otherwise. 

            "I think Lily went a little overboard with the color cream," Sirius said, looking at the flowers decorating the altar. "It's everywhere."

"Sirius, we have bigger fish to fry. Lily and James are getting married in twenty minutes and no one's here," Harmony said. "Lily Evans and James Potter tie the knot and no one shows. Great."

"They probably think it is a big hoax. They're always fighting."

"Yes, Sirius, but you and I know that's their way of expressing their love," Remus said. "Besides, we've seen them in some sweet, loving position."

"And some compromising ones."

"What have you seen that we haven't?" Kiki asked, exasperated. She looked at Sirius' grin. "Never mind."

            "My, my. Lily gets married and no one shows up," came a cold, feminine voice from the back. A tall woman with blonde hair stood in another cream dress. It was Lily's sister, Petunia Evans. She strolled down the aisle, flashing her gaudy engagement ring. "I assure you this isn't going to happen when Vernon and I get married."

            She reached the small group. "I know you all won't pull any of your abnormal stunts since normal people will be around," Petunia announced. The small group glared at the woman, knowing she hated her sister's magical world. What she didn't know was who she was facing in this battle.

            James, Sirius, Remus, Kiki and Harmony were all Aurors, trained to fight against the Dark Arts and Voldemort, the most powerful wizard terrifying the wizarding community. Lily was a healer at St. Mungo's and Peter worked in the Ministry of Magic, first as a disasterous security guard, now as a messenger for the departments. Yet they were all in the secret Order of the Phoenix, and if Petunia knew they always carried their wands on, remembered there were no witnesses, she wouldn't have been so bold.

            Kiki approached Petunia. "Why do I have a feeling you're behind this somehow?" she asked. Petunia gave an evil smile, but refused to say anything. Kiki continued, "Lily was the only one with access to the invitations, so we can't blame Sirius."

"Hey!"

"So, what did you do?" 

            Petunia's smile grew even more. "Are you sure the guests were aware today was the big day?" she asked, cryptically. "It would be a shame if the wrong day ended up on the invitation."

            Before anyone could blink, Harmony stood in front of the woman. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hex you right now!" Harmony hissed, wand pointing at Petunia's forehead. 

"You wouldn't. You could get in trouble."

"She's got a reason. Muggles tampering with wizarding mail aren't looked kindly on," Peter squeaked. Al looked at him, glad he worked in the Ministry. Except Petunia, who turned a shade of white paler than her dress.

            "Harmony, don't threaten the maid of honor," James called out from the back. Harmony kept her wand pointed at Lily's sister.

            "Uh, James," Kiki said, "you may not have noticed, but no one is here yet."

"I noticed. They probably all think it's another practical joke. Lily Evans marry James Potter? Remember when I proposed? She just kept laughing until she realized I was serious. Then she started crying."

"Yes, but now your dear, future sister-in-law has decided to change the date of you wedding," Harmony said, through clenched teeth.

            James reached the small group. Now five equally upset Aurors stood around Petunia as she began to squirm. He too raised his wand. "What did you do?" he asked in a cold voice that no one liked. Petunia could only "meep" in response. "Do you deny that you changed the date of our wedding?" James asked. Petunia shook her head.

            Remus decided to step in before his friend and girlfriend did something they all would regret. He placed his hands on their arms and lowered them. "Threatening to hex her won't solve any of our problems. We need to figure out how to rectify the situation," Remus said. Harmony and James looked at the quiet man ad then proceeded to put their wands away. When Petunia realized she was safe for now, she fled. 

            Kiki watched her leave. "Leave it to Remus to be the voice of reason."

"Leave it to Remus to use a big word like 'rectify.'"

"Leave it to you, Sirius, to not know what the word 'rectify' means."

"Shut up, Kiki."

"Make me, Sirius."

"Sure, how's your boyfriend, Severus Snape, doing?"

"LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS!"

            Harmony sighed and whirled around. "So, how can we fix this problem? And could someone stop them?" She looked over at two of her best friends, their argument coming close to bows. 

            "I can't believe Kiki agreed to go out with Severus," Remus said. "We all hated him in school and then he joins the Order and she falls for him?"

"It's not Severus joining the order that made Kiki ask him out," Harmony said, smiling at how clueless her boyfriend could be. Even James knew what Kiki was doing, surprising Harmony. "She's using Severus to make Sirius jealous." Remus' mouth made a big "O." 

            Peter ran behind the group of Remus, Harmony and James because Kiki and Sirius had just whipped out their wands. Remus went over to bravely stop his two friends from killing each other, Harmony watching with admiration in her eyes. James approached his fiancée's best girlfriend, saying, "May be you should go to Lily."

"And say what? Her wedding guests are late due to her jerk of a sister?"

"Well, I'm sure you can put it more diplomatically…"

"James, you don't know how nervous Lily is right now. This could push her over the edge."

"What, is she going to lock herself in the bathroom?"

"No, she did that last night."

"I was joking."

"I wasn't."

"Merlin's beard," James sighed. "If she did that last night, what would happen if she found out now?"

            At that moment, Lily's voice was heard throughout the church. "WHAT?!" James fled off so he wouldn't see Lily, they already had bad luck from being friends with Sirius and didn't need anymore. Shortly after the groom left, the bride appeared at the end of the aisle. "SIRIUS BLACK, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO NOW?" she roared. Sirius, whom Remus had saved from Kiki's wrath, suddenly shrunk 12 inches and Harmony moved behind Remus. 

            Lily hiked up her full crème skirt and marched down the aisle, train and veil blowing in the breeze. She reached Sirius, but Kiki stopped her. She was ready to defend the man she had wanted to kill not five minutes ago. "I know when things go bad, it's normally Sirius' fault, but this isn't Lil."

"Thanks."

"Miraculously."

"Hey!" 

            Lily was still enraged, but believed her friend. "If Sirius didn't do it, then who did?" Lily demanded, startling Peter, who was now cowering behind, Harmony, still using Remus as her own shield. "Is someone going to tell me," Lily asked, "or am I going to hex someone?"

'Petunia did it. Besides, you made Harmony and me lock up your wand," Kiki said. Lily continued fuming. 

            "I see we have a bit of a problem here," came a voice from the back. The group spun around to see their old school headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, at the entrance of the chapel. With him was Mr. and Mrs. Evans, angrily staring at their blonde daughter. 

            "Headmaster—Albus," Lily said, correcting herself, "what do you propose we do?"

"No, worries, Lily. You focus on marrying James."

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Kiki, shortly. 

            Albus gave her a look. "I've already set the matter right." The all began talking at once.

"How?" (Remus)

"Why am I not surprised?" (Sirius)

"That's why you're the Headmaster." (Kiki)

"And the leader of the Order of the Phoenix." (Peter)

"So my wedding is saved?" (Do I need to tell you?) 

            "Yes, Lily," Albus said. "Severus is fixing everything as we speak." Albus then winked at Kiki. "He seemed eager for the job," the wizard continued, looking over the rim of his glasses. 

            "As long as the problem is fixed," Mr. Evans said. "Now, Petunia," apologize to your sister."

            "I'm sorry I ruined you wedding to that awful boy," Petunia mumbled. Lily knew this was the best she was going to get, so she accepted that. 

            A half-hour after she was supposed to, Lily walked down the aisle on her father's arms. She smiled at all the shocked faces watching her. She knew they all were waiting for either James or Sirius to jump up and say "Surprise!" But that wasn't going to happen, Lily really wanted this. 

            She saw James standing in front of Dumbledore, Sirius' hand on his friend's shoulders. Both beamed at Lily, as did her two bridesmaids. Remus gave her a gentle,  reassuring smile while Peter looked more nervous than James and Lily combined. Her maid of honor just stood there, a fake smile plastered across her face.

            Mr. Evans handed James his daughter's hand, saying, "Love her always." James nodded and led Lily up. Albus smiled and cleared his throat. "Dear friends, we are here to celebrate the union of James Potter and Lily Evans…"

            James and Lily laughed as they collapsed after two straight hours of dancing. The ceremony went off without a hitch, even with Bill Weasley's startled cry when he realized he wasn't carrying the real rings. (Remus was. Lily and James only trusted Sirius so much.)

            But now, Sirius was getting ready to give his best man's speech. Those present from the wizarding world sat in silence, waiting for how Sirius Black would deliver the speech. Especially since he already had a few drinks. Oh yes, this was going to be interesting. 

            Sirius stood up, took a sip of his wine and cleared his throat. "I have known from the moment these two met they would be perfect for each other…oh wait, that's Remus and Harmony's speech when they get married." This caused an uproar at the dais among Kiki, Remus and Harmony.

"Who says they're getting married?"

"Who says you're going to be my best man?"

"Who says you're invited?"

            Sirius shot them all looks. "Anyway, Lily and James…oh boy, Lily and James. Who here believed this was another one of my pranks?" Everybody who knew the Marauders raised their hands. "Alright, more hands than I expected.

            "Lily and James had a rough beginning. She turned him down so many times at school. But James finally won her over with those Potter charms. And they have had those rough spots. If your favorite restaurant hides the sharp silverware, you know you have rough spots." Remus gave an conspicuous cough. "Anyway, I know they will be happy. And if you haven't killed each other by then, I hope you would consider me as your first child's godfather. You know, screw Remus and Peter, make me al of theirs!"

            Harmony pulled Sirius down as Remus raised his glass. "To Lily and James, all the happiness in the world," he said, as those present stood and drank to the Potters. Sirius downed his in three seconds, timed by Kiki.

            Lily then had all the unmarried women (minus Petunia. She knew she and Vernon were the next to get married) and prepared to throw the bouquet. Also crème, matching the tablecloths and napkins. And the favors. And the cake. 

            Lily closed her eyes and tossed her flowers over her head. When she looked back, she saw Harmony clutching the bouquet with Kiki. She saw a blush rise to Remus' cheeks, a surprised expression on Snape's face (sitting next to giggling Order members and Weasleys), and an outraged look distorting Sirius' handsome features. 

            The next day, the five friends and Snape wished the Potters a great honeymoon to France. "Forget about Voldemort for a while," Remus said, an arm around Harmony's waist. 

            "And I expect you two to be planning your double wedding with Kiki and Snape when we get back," Lily said. She and James enjoyed watching their three friends squirm, but stopped when Sirius looked ready to kill someone. 'Kiki's plan is working. Too well,' Lily thought.

            James and Sirius embraced brotherly as Lily slung her arm around Kiki's shoulders. Sirius tried hard to concentrate on James. "Alright, I expect you to announce my future godson or daughter when you get back, Prongs."

"Sure, Padfoot," James said, rolling his eyes. 'But maybe Moony with be his or her godfather."

            James laughed at Sirius' expression. He grabbed Lily, kissing Kiki's cheek. The two hugged Remus and Harmony, Lily kissed Sirius and the two said good-bye to Peter. They boarded their plane, all worries forgotten.


	4. How Can Six People Forget The Same Thing...

Chapter Three: A Party

A/N: Thanks to Junsui Chikyuu, my only reviewer! If there are more people reading this, I wouldn't mind it if you reviewed. I like get them…please? ~*Mac*~

            Everybody felt that they should be doing something on this day, but they couldn't figure it out. James Potter stared boringly at the calendar his girlfriend Lily Evans had placed on his refrigerator, trying to remember. Lily bustled around his kitchen, trying to find something to make them and their friends. James ran a hand through his black hair and turned to the small group in his living room.

            His friend Remus Lupin was sitting in a nearby chair, casually flipping through the day's issue of the _Daily Prophet_. Though James figured his quiet friend was being more distracted by Harmony Anderson's head resting on his lap. James shook his head and motioned to Lily. "Think he's nervous?" he asked her. Lily smiled. "I don't know why," James continued. "We were friends in Hogwarts. It's not like he's dating someone he just met." 

"It's Remus. Dating one of his best friends. He's bound to be nervous. Besides, he knows that he's a rare case. He's a werewolf who has friends and a girlfriend aware of his condition and still care." Lily leaned down and kissed James' cheek.

            Harmony was watching the two exchange words. "Look," she whispered to Remus, "they're talking without fighting."  Remus looked up and smiled. He went back to reading the paper. Harmony read the date on the paper and couldn't help but feel like she was forgetting something. Something important. She shook it off and gazed over at a fidgety Peter Pettigrew. Even he looked like he knew they were forgetting something. 

            Harmony sighed and decided to voice her feelings. "I feel like we're forgetting something."

"I know," Remus said, folding the paper. "I feel it too."

"Where's Sirius?" Harmony asked, noticing one of their group was missing. 

            Peter decided to speak up. "He said he was going to stop by later. Give us time to prepare for something."

"Prepare for what?" Lily asked.

"He didn't say," Peter answered. "He just said we needed time to prepare."

"Oh no, he's probably going to do a stupid trick," Lily groaned. "Will he ever learn?" She whirled on to her boyfriend. "And don't think of encouraging him, James Potter!" James placed his arms up in surrender while Lily turned on Remus. "Nor you, Lupin!"

"Don't worry, Lil, I'll make sure Remus behaves," Harmony said, sitting up to place her arms around her boyfriend.

            Lily turned back to James. "I mean it, James. I don't want you to have to do with anything Sirius plans today," she lectured, marching into the kitchen to finish cooking. That was one thing she didn't need that day—a stupid Marauders' prank. They were out of school and on their own! Why did they keep insisting on behaving like children? "The Marauders will always be the Marauders," Harmony had once said, when she and Lily were spending some time alone. Lily sighed and realized her friend was right. 

            Harmony got tired of just lying there, letting her guilt gnaw at her. She knew she was forgetting something important—but what was it? And why did they all feel like that? She stood up, but flopped back down. Her head was still spinning? That was over a week ago…

            Remus was nervous about Harmony's behavior. "Are you still hurting?" he asked her. She shook her head and regretted the decision. "Here, let me," Remus said, helping her lean into his chest.

"Doesn't this hurt your arm?" she asked, rolling up her boyfriend's sleeve. An ugly gash was still scaring over. Remus pulled his arm away. "Did you have anyone look at that?"

"Well…"

"Remus, did someone look at that arm?" Harmony asked, pulling his face so he could look her in the eye.

"No," he answered, knowing he couldn't lie to her. He wasn't a convincing liar. "I didn't get it checked out."

"REMUS JOHN LUPIN!" she screamed, and he suddenly realized he had sent his girlfriend into mother hen mode. She was now worse than Molly Weasley, Sirius' distant cousin and mother figure to the Marauders and HM's. 

            Harmony jumped up, screaming about how much of an idiot her boyfriend was for not getting his wounds checked out. Lily, James and Peter stared in shock, not used to seeing the happy couple embroiled in such a fight. Well, that fight did look a bit one sided from that perspective, but James knew that Remus wasn't a Marauder for nothing—he was just biding his time to erupt. He wondered if Harmony had ever seen Remus erupt…

"WELL EXCUSE ME FOR CARING ABOUT SOMEONE OTHER THAN MYSELF!" Remus screamed back.

"OH, NOW I'M SELFISH!" countered Harmony

"I DIDN'T SAY THAT!"

"YOU SURE IMPLIED IT!"

"IT SOUNDED LIKE I JUST TOLD YOU I LOVED YOU!"

            Silence reined supreme at Godric Hollow, as three people held their breaths. Remus Lupin had just admitted his love to his best friend. How would the object of his affection handle this? Especially after such a  yelling match as they had been in. 

            "You what?" she asked, slightly out of breath from yelling at her boyfriend. "Did you say you loved me?"

"Yeah," the man said, "I did." They stood staring at each other. "I guess that was stupid. We've only be dating a few months, and I'm a werewolf…"

"Don't bring that into it," she said through gritted teeth. "That has nothing to do with anything. I love you, too." 

            The two smiled at each other as Lily and James said, "Aww," together. That reminded Harmony and Remus they weren't alone. They turned around and James held his old, arrogant smile on his face. "Moony and Mony," he cooed, "how cute. Don't you think so, Lil?"

"I think so," Lily said, a smile spread from ear to ear.

            Harmony grabbed Remus' uninjured arm and dragged him to their red-haired friend. "Lily, could you please look at this?" she asked, pushing up Remus' sleeve. Lily gasped at the sight of the wound, her smile fading. She looked up at Remus, who began to squirm. Lily shot a glance at Harmony, before dragging the red werewolf out of the room.

            At that moment, a tall brunette walked into Godric Hollow. "Did I just hear another infamous James Potter-Lily Evans fight?" she asked. She ran a hand through her midnight black hair, with streaks of gold worked in. 

"No, Kiki," James replied, "Lily and I weren't fighting."

"Then why were the rafters shaking?" Kristin Wright, from here on in, known only as Kiki, asked.

"Because Remus and Harmony were arguing," Peter said.

"What? Trouble in paradise?"

"Ha ha, Kiki," Harmony said, suddenly remembering why she was so upset before. "My idiot of a boyfriend got injured in our last attack against the Deatheaters and never got the wound checked out. I was yelling at him for his negligence."

"And how did the argument stop?"

"When he told her he loved her," James said simply. Kiki looked at her friend and squealed, embracing the blonde woman.

            Lily came out, Remus trailing behind. Harmony was pleased to see his arm now bandaged up properly. "There, now you can heal. Thank Merlin Lily had enough sense to go into healing," Harmony said, as Remus slung his uninjured arm over her shoulders. "By the way, Kiki's here. Alone." 

            The alone comment was important to the other five in the room. Kiki had recently started to date Severus Snape, an old schoolmate and enemy of her friends. Harmony and Lily knew Kiki was just doing it to drive Sirius crazy so that he would eventually realize how madly in love he was with her, and she with him, and they would begin dating. Kiki had made many crazy plans before, and most of them succeeded (with Sirius and James' help) so the two women had no doubt it would work.

            Kiki's face distorted. "Don't talk about Sev that way," she hissed and stalked into the kitchen. Lily gave Harmony a look and followed her friend into the next room. Harmony sighed. She knew why Kiki was so protective of Severus because she felt bad. She felt bad she was using him to lose him when Sirius, whom Severus absolutely hated, came running to her.

            Harmony unwound herself from Remus' comfortable embrace and walked into the kitchen. "Kiki, I'm sorry," she said. "It was just to save Remus the trouble of asking."

"That's okay, Mony. I didn't mean to snap. You know how I feel about Severus…"

"Kiki, if your conscience is bothering you that bad, why don't you just break it off with Severus before things go too far and you really hurt him?" Lily suggested. "You don't want to hurt him, right?"

"Or end up married to him."

"Eww," Kiki shuddered. "I'm not planning on being the relationship long enough for him to propose. Sirius is eventually going to break and we are eventually going to go out. Got it?"

"Got it," her two friends answered.

            The door opened later and Sirius walked in. "James, I parked my motorcycle on your front lawn, I hope you don't mind!" Sirius said, walking into the group. The six were seated around a bowl of salsa dip and a bag of chips was currently being fought over between Kiki and James. Lily was torn between helping her boyfriend or helping her friend, while Peter, Harmony and Remus just sat there, shaking with silent laughter.

            Sirius stood there. No one was hiding. No one was jumping out yelling "Surprise, Sirius!" and "Happy Birthday, Sirius!" He thought they were planning a surprise party when Peter called to say they had all been invited to Godric Hollow, without so once mentioning the man's birthday. So Sirius figured they were all getting together to surprise him. That's why he gave them time. But now he could see he was wrong. Dead wrong.

            "Hello, Sirius, how are you?" Harmony said, in between giggles. Sirius just stood there, mouth wide open. "Sirius…earth to Sirius…Hey, you trying to catch something with that trap of yours?" Harmony said, now standing up and waving her hand in front of Sirius' face.

            His peculiar behavior was starting to unnerve the others in the room. In a few strides, Remus and James were both standing next to Harmony. Lily, Kiki and Peter hung back a bit. "Sirius, what's wrong?" Harmony asked, louder. No response.

"Sirius? Padfoot?" Now James was really worried.

            Finally, Sirius opened his mouth. "Why isn't anyone saying surprise?" he asked, timidly. It then hit them why they all felt like they had forgotten something important—they had! Harmony summed it up quite nicely:

"Today's your birthday? CRAP!" 

            Sirius looked at all of them. "How could you?" he asked quietly, especially to Remus and James. "How could you?" He darted out of the house.

            A half hour later, James and Remus came back, Sirius in tow. He was amazed at how the place had changed. "Happy Birthday" banners hung around, as did a piñata that resembled Snape. A cake was being iced the muggle way by Harmony and Lily as Kiki helped Peter put out some drinks. "We've apologized profusely," James said, hugging Lily.

"I can't believe we forgot!" Harmony exclaimed, hugging Sirius. "We knew we forgot something, we just didn't know what that something was!"

"I can't believe you forgot my birthday. It's only the most important day of my life!"

"Well, you didn't advertise it so well as you have in the past," Remus said.

"What?"

"Hey, he's right," Kiki said. "Normally, we would've had to hear for weeks on end how long it was till your birthday."

"You were all involved in the Deatheater incident, I wasn't. Well, me and Peter. I couldn't just start bugging you," Sirius said. 

"I'd either say that's the nicest thing you've ever said, or you forgot as well," Lily responded, studying her boyfriend's best friend.  Sirius blushed a bit, and the others pounced on him.

            "You accuse us of forgetting your birthday, when you forgot it too?" James asked. "I could kill you, Padfoot."

"I didn't forget my own birthday. I forgot to remind you!" Sirius countered back, walking over to the calendar. "And why isn't it written down on the calendar? It should be the first thing you did when Lily gave it to you."

"No, the first thing I did was write down Lily's birthday and our anniversary. Wouldn't want to forget those," James replied, fearfully glancing at Lily. "Definitely, wouldn't want to forget those."

"But now as I look through this calendar, let's see who else is written down. Harmony's birthday, Kiki's birthday, Remus', Peter's, Dumbledore's—hey, how'd you know that?—and SEVERUS SNAPE'S?" 

            James turned to Kiki. "What?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders. "He IS my boyfriend."

"Yeah, but I'm not going to send him a birthday card," James replied, frowning. He turned back to Sirius, who looked ready to tear up his calendar. He sighed. "It's your own fault, Padfoot. The others wrote theirs down on the calendar. You should've too."

"I've been your best friend for years!" Sirius yelled. "You should've remembered it! How could you not have planned for my birthday—how could you not have remembered? How—" 

Sirius had to stop in mid-rant. Kiki's laughter was filling the room. This caught Sirius off guard and he looked at all his friends. They seemed to be surprised, too. "What is so funny?" he demanded.

"Nothing, except how big idiots we are," she said. She held up her appointment book and handed it to Lily. Lily's eyes grew big and she too began to laugh. "We had planned for your birthday," Kiki told Sirius. "About three weeks ago. We have reservations at the Three Broomsticks in an hour and a half! We must've forgotten with the Deatheater attack last week."

Soon everyone was laughing as they realized how stupid they were all acting. "Honestly, Padfoot, would we really, truly forget your birthday?" James asked as the laughter died down. "We knew you wouldn't let us live it down. So, bygones be bygones?"

"No," Sirius said. "I'm not going to let you guys ever forget this moment. But, can I do one thing?" he asked James. The other man nodded and watched as Sirius got up, took a pen Lily had left lying around and flipped the calendar open. Before Kiki could stop him, he had scratched off Snape's birthday from the Potter calendar. "There. All better. So, when do we head for Diagon Alley?" Sirius sat down and opened a bottle of butterbeer, staring down Kiki.

Kiki took up a pillow lying on the couch, knocking Harmony off the pillow. Remus helped his girlfriend up as they all watched Kiki advance on Sirius. "Aw, what'cha going to do? Attack me with the pillow?" he asked.

"Precisely!" Kiki screamed, crashing the pillow down on top of Sirius' head. The force of the hit knocked Sirius out of his chair. He stood back up, grabbed Kiki and ran down the hall. The group watched as the offending pillow was thrown back into the room, hitting Peter in the head. Running water could be heard, as well as Kiki's pleas for help. "Don't you dare toss me in there, Sirius Black! Sirius, Padfoot, NO!" A splash was heard. "SIRIUS BLACK, THIS WATER IS ICE COLD!" Another splash came.

A few minutes later, a soaking wet Kiki walked back into the room. Lily had already retrieved some towels, and Kiki grabbed one. She wrapped it around her hair and then grabbed the other one to wrap about her. Sirius strolled out, as dry as he was when they last saw him. "That was the best birthday gift ever! Dunking Kiki, not once, but twice. All is forgiven," he declared. The others stared before hurling chips at him.


	5. The Good, the Bad, and the Snape

The Meeting

Four people stood staring at the two platforms marked "Nine" and "Ten" at Kings Cross Station. They were all tall and skinny. The man and one of his daughters had blonde hair, while his wife and the other daughter had red hair. The blonde girl stood separately from her family, who were huddled around the red head, carrying a trunk and a tabby kitten.

"It says Nine and Three Quarters," the red head said, reading her piece of paper. "I don't think they would lie."

"But Lily, honey, there is no platform nine and three quarters," her mother said. The other daughter began laughing hysterically.

"Excuse me, do you need any help getting onto the platform?" asked a tall woman with black hair. Lily's father nodded. "Well, it's easy. I attended Hogwarts myself, as did my husband. You have to go right between the wall that separates platform nine and platform ten," the woman said. "You know what? Tommy, show these nice people how to get on to the platform!"

A short boy, slightly older than Lily, walked up pushing a cart. He walked towards the wall and disappeared. "There," said the woman again. "How about you guys go?" The group looked around and soon all four were standing before the Hogwarts Express, the blonde being dragged.

The woman and her daughter made it through the barrier after the other family. "I'm Grace Wright, and this is my daughter Kristin. She's starting her first year at Hogwarts, I take it your daughters are, too?"

"Just this daughter. I'm Michael Evans and this is my wife Anne, and our daughters Petunia and Lily. Lily is the one going to Hogwarts," Mr. Evans said.

Lily and Kristin stood off to the side. "I prefer to be called Kiki," Kristin said suddenly. Lily turned to the girl next to her. "Are your eyes natural?"

"Yep. Golden goodness."

"And your hair?"

"No, my cousin did this for me. She thought it would be cool if I showed up at Hogwarts with pink stripes in my hair. She taught me the charm, and I'm going to have my hair in the house colors for a week and every Quidditch game. Have I lost you yet?"

"No, not at all, Kiki," Lily replied. "I may be new to the wizarding world, but I did read up on it. Especially a book about Hogwarts."

Kiki smiled as she got dragged away by her mother. "I'll see you on the train!" she called. Lily smiled and followed her mother to say good-bye to her family.

Sirius Black stood with his mother watching the two girls talk. His mother stood rigid at his side, talking to his aunt. He gave a glance at his blonde haired cousin, Narcissa, beside him. "Think of all the fun we're going to have in Slytherin, Sirius," she said. Sirius could only nod. He knew his entire family had been in Slytherin, except for his cousin Andromeda, Narcissa's much older sister. He himself really didn't want to be in Slytherin. He may have been eleven, but he knew he didn't stand for what his family stood for.

"Look over there, it's the Potters. They are a disgrace to the name of Wizard," he heard his mother say. He looked over to see a boy his age with unruly black hair and glasses standing next to his mother, who also had black hair. They were talking to a blonde haired woman and brown haired man. The boy was trying to bring out the shy brown haired boy. "You would think they know that that woman is a muggle!" Sirius sighed.

James Potter was having no luck with this Remus Lupin. He absolutely refused to talk to anybody. He didn't know that Remus had a secret, a terrible secret that could alter their friendship if known. He didn't know that Remus was and would be looked down upon for the rest of his life because of this terrible secret. All he knew was that the boy wouldn't talk to him.

Down a little from both Remus and James stood a short boy with blonde hair. He was nervous standing by his mother, who was talking to another woman. Her daughter stood off to the side, whom Peter Pettigrew thought was called Harmony Anderson. She was blonde, like him, and just sat on her suitcase, staring at the different people. She didn't pay any attention to Peter, but then again who did? Peter sighed, it was going to be a long seven years at this rate.

Harmony was so bored, she had begun braiding her hair. She loved watching people, and the Hogwarts express train station gave her a new venue of people to stare at. She did glance over back to Mrs. Pettigrew's son Peter, whom she had briefly met before. Apparently her mother and his mother were roommates back in Hogwarts. She knew Peter was a pureblood, while her father was actually a squib. She didn't know if that counted for much, but she didn't care. Sounds of an argument soon broke her thoughts as she looked up.

Sirius didn't know what happened. He had noticed a pretty girl with black hair and pink streaks sitting on a nearby trunk and decided to go talk to her. One of his cousins had been teaching him how to flirt with girls and he wanted to try it out on this girl. She, however, didn't want to be flirted with. She promptly and coldly told him so, standing up quickly.

Kiki wasn't pleased with this one Sirius Black, and lashed into him. "We're only eleven for crying out loud! I am not into having a boyfriend yet!"

"What makes you think I'm eleven, too?"

"Please, I grew up in the wizarding world. Don't think I don't know what the name Black means!"

"Oh yeah, what does it mean?"

"It means that you are one of the biggest family of Dark wizards ever!"

The argument had also gotten the attention of the Potter and Lupin families. Mrs. Potter recognized the Black son and Wright daughter arguing. James and Remus watched in fascination, wondering where the argument would go. Their mothers, however, exchanged a knowing look only women can exchange. It wasn't until they saw the girl's fist flying through the air did anyone do something.

"At least my father isn't some lowlife Muggle lover!" Sirius screamed, instantly regretting his choice of words. His temper tended to get the best of him and he didn't always think things through completely. He hoped he didn't hurt this Kristin Wright's feelings.

But he did. "How dare you speak about my father, you pureblood creep!" she screamed, sending her fist to meet his face. Unfortunately, it never made it there. Kiki was jerked away from Sirius by a strong man. The only thing Kiki could do was start crying.

"Hey, calm down there, Miss Wright," said a man's voice. "You, too, Sirius Black." Sirius recognized the man as Mr. Potter, whom his parents often insulted at the dinner table. Mr. Potter just stood there with his arms around Kiki, trying to get the girl to stop crying. Mrs. Black jerked Sirius away from the group, and then smiled at him when their backs were turned. Sirius turned his head to see Mrs. Wright come up, chastise her daughter and then hug her.

The students rushed to board the train. Kiki hugged her mother one last time and got on the train. There she met up with Harmony and the two found a compartment together. Soon, the two were in a deep discussion concerning topics any normal eleven-years-old girls would talk about.

Remus and James boarded at the same time and began looking for an empty compartment. They accidentally bumped into an older student. "Watch you two!" the older boy said. "Oh, first years, huh? Name's Frank Longbottom. I'm the Head Boy and a Gryffindor."

"My entire family has been in Gryffindor. I'm James Potter," James introduced himself. Frank smiled. "Hope to see you in there, Frank."

"Excuse me, Frank," Remus said, "but do you know where there's an empty compartment for us?" Remus and James looked hopeful at the older boy. Frank could only shake his head, say his farewells and continue along the train. James and Remus just stood there, crestfallen.

"Could you two help me? I'm looking for a compartment and the girl I was with left me," said a small voice. The two boys turned to see Peter standing there. "I'm Peter," he introduced himself, and Remus and James followed suit.

"Well, Remus, I guess we are going to have to find our own compartment. Come on, Peter," James said. Peter's eyes lighted up and he followed the two boys down a hall. Halfway down, the three bumped into Sirius Black. "Have you found a compartment?" James asked. Sirius nodded and pointed into the compartment they were standing in front of.

"I checked. There's only one person sitting in there. I think we can oust her and have the compartment to ourselves," Sirius said, opening the door. Inside sat Lily, a book in her hand. She looked up when the door opened and laid the book on her lap. James may have been only eleven, but he was starting to notice girls in that way, and this girl had caught his attention.

Sirius sauntered in and sat down across from Lily. "I'm Sirius Black—"

"I know."

"Oh, and how do you know?"

"Kiki Wright told me. You know—the girl that nearly slugged you?"

Sirius was now upset. How dare she mention that girl and what she had nearly tried to do to him on the platform! "Oh," he said, hotly, "and you are?"

"Lily Evans. What do you want?"

"Well I—and my friends—want you to leave so we can have this compartment to ourselves."

James and Remus gasped—they couldn't believe what Sirius had done. "Sirius, maybe you could do it nicely? Maybe if you said 'please?'" James said to Sirius as Remus apologized for the Black boy's behavior.

Lily stood up suddenly, knocking Remus down next to Sirius. "Don't bother. I'll go find some place else and leave you boys to your own wills." She walked out of the compartment, but turned to throw one last barb at Sirius. "Once a Black, always a Black."

Sirius' jaw clenched and his fists tightened. James patted the boy's hands. "Don't let her get to you," he said. "She probably is just upset you asked her to leave when she was here first."

"Typical. We're not even friends a day and you're already choosing a girl over me."

"Who says we're friends?"

"What do you think we are?"

James thought about it for a while, looked between Remus, Sirius and Peter and smiled. "I think we are friends," he said. "I think we are going to be the best friends ever to grace Hogwarts school."

"And we may be the first friends in different houses," Sirius said, frowning. The others gave him a questioning look. "You know my entire family has been in Slytherin. I'm doomed to be in that house. And you said all your family was in Gryffindor, right James?"

James could only nod glumly. He knew that Slytherins and Gryffindors were mortal enemies from the moment they were sorted. Remus leaned forward. "From what my father has told me, I'll probably end up in Ravenclaw," he said, his elbow resting on a book he had taken out.

Even Peter had his own say, suggesting he might end up in Hufflepuff. "See?" Sirius asked. "We are going to be in different houses." Then his eyes lit up. "Let's make a pact. No matter what house we end up in, we're going to be friends. Promise?" Three other promises sounded through the room.

Down the train, Lily finally found another compartment and met Harmony and Kiki. She sat down, happy to find girls her own age. She soon joined into their conversation, about some of the boys they saw on the platform. "Sirius Black is a jerk!" Kiki declared. "A big jerk!"

"I know. He just kicked me out of my compartment."

"See? But, he is cute..."

"No, he isn't."

"What about James Potter?"

"Oh, he wasn't any better. None of them were!"

"What about the boy talking with James Potter? Did anyone catch his name?" Harmony asked. The other two girls shook their heads. "Oh, I was just hoping someone did. He seemed nice," she explained.

"He was nice. He just didn't do anything when Black and Potter threw me out of my compartment. I don't think he mentioned his name," Lily said. Harmony smiled. "Anyway," the red head continued, "what house do you think you'll be in."

"Hopefully Gryffindor. Wouldn't want to be in Slytherin."

"Why?" asked Lily and Harmony asked in unison. Kiki was about to answer when another voice cut her off.

"Because Slytherin has a history of turning out the most dark wizards and witches," said an older girl at the door. "Sorry to disturb you. I'm Alice Pulier and I'm the Hogwarts Head Girl. I'm just here to welcome you to Hogwarts and to tell you that they will tell you when we are close to the school so you can all change. Nice meeting you. Maybe I'll see you in Ravenclaw."

A chorus of "Thanks, Alice," resounded through the compartment as the Head Girl closed the door. "Ravenclaw," Harmony said. "I might end up there. That or Gryffindor."

"I think I might be in Ravenclaw myself," Lily said. "But, let's promise not to let houses come in between us. I think you are going to be some of the best friends I've ever had and I don't want any stupid loyalty issue ruining that."

"Don't worry, neither do we. So, no houses and no boys. Deal?" Kiki said. The other girls agreed.

Soon enough, they reached Hogwarts. "Firs' year, over 'ere!" yelled a voice over the crowd of students. The first years pushed their way to a giant (it seemed to them) holding a lantern. "My name's Hadgrid and I'm keeper o' the key 'ere at 'ogwarts. Come with me," he said, leading them to boats at the lake. "Careful of the monster. Off we go!"

The seven first years we have most recently discussed observed their new home for the next seven years of their lives in awe. The castle loomed majestically against the night sky. The lanterns of the boats as they sailed through the lake seemed to lead them down a golden carpet to the front doors where a stern woman stood.

"Good evening. I am Professor McGonagall, deputy headmistress, professor of Transfiguration and head of the Gryffindor house. In a moment you will be let into the Great Hall to be sorted into your houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. Any good deed performed during your time here will earn your house points, any mischief will cause you to lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the House Cup. I'll be seeing you all soon."

With that, McGonagall left the room and the small group of nervous first years. They were given the signal to enter and they gazed in awe at the ceiling, which resembled the night sky. "My mother says it's bewitched to look like that," Harmony whispered to Lily and Kiki. They reached McGonagall, who stood before a stool and an old hat. She opened a roll of parchment. "When I call your name, come up to be sorted. Harmony Anderson."

Harmony gulped. She was the first person? She walked shakily up to the stool and sat down, feeling McGonagall place the hat on her head. _Well, what do we have here? The daughter of Janice Paulson. What to do with you? You certainly aren't Slytherin or Hufflepuff material._

_Thank goodness._

_Oh, a sense of humor, hmm? I see you can do well in Ravenclaw, the intellect is there. But, there's a courage down there...I can sense, so best be..._ "Gryffindor!" the hat shouted. Harmony smiled, jumped down and walked to the Gryffindor table.

A few B's later, McGonagall read out, "Narcissa Black." Narcissa shot her cousin a smile and sat down on the stool. A few seconds later, the hat called out: "Slytherin!" Narcissa walked to the table, smiling the whole way. McGonagall next called out: "Sirius Black!" Sirius shot a look at his three new friends and walked up to the hat. _Two Blacks in one night? But you are different from the rest...you reject your family's belief. That in and of itself is bravery, so there's only one place to put you, boy..._ "Gryffindor!"

Gryffindor? Sirius jumped down confused. Happy, but confused. Silence seemed to reign in the Great Hall as the Black child walked to the Gryffindor table. As he looked across to see Narcissa frowning at him. 'She doesn't like this. Neither will Mother. Oh, well,' he thought. To break the uneven silence, he did stand up at the Gryffindor table and raised his hands in triumph. This worked, causing a patter of laughter and the sorting continued.

"Lily Evans!" Lily shakily walked up to the hat and tested her luck. _So much going on inside this pretty little head...where to put you?...you're muggle born, so that leaves Slytherin out of this search. You're loyal, intellectual, but brave as well..._ "Gryffindor!" Lily hopped down and ran to the Gryffindor table, embracing Harmony. She shot Sirius a look and sat down.

"Remus Lupin." Sirius perked up, waiting to see where his new friend would end. Remus sat down on top of the chair. _Hmm...a werewolf? That alone should put you in Slytherin, but you are different than a werewolf. You have qualities for Ravenclaw, but to go through those transformations month after month shows real courage, so..._ "Gryffindor!"

Remus took the hat off, handed it back to McGonagall and walked on unsteady legs to take the seat next to Sirius, who was cheering like a madman. They waited for James and Peter to be sorted. Soon McGonagall's voice called out, "Peter Pettigrew." They watched Peter walk up and sit down.

_You are hard to sort, but everyone except that Black girl has been tonight. You have a sneaky quality to you that would suggest you belong in Slytherin._

_Not Slytherin. I wouldn't make it there!_

_Not Slytherin? No, you're right. You do need to be in the presence of wizards better and stronger than you..._

_Hey!_

_I'm only reading what's inside your mind. So..._ "Gryffindor!"

Sirius and Remus welcomed Peter to their table by clapping their hands on his back. He sat down, but was still shaken by what the Sorting Hat had said. He didn't have long to dwell on it, because James was right behind him. The three held their breaths; though James had said his entire family had been in Gryffindor, the Blacks had been in Slytherin but Sirius had ended up in Gryffindor.

"James Potter!" James sat down and smiled at his friends before the hat blocked him out. _Thank Merlin for another easy one. Only two things: You're a Potter and you've got bravery down there. Here we go..._ "Gryffindor!" James smiled in victory and walked down to his other four friends. "We didn't get separated after all," he said. He was also glad that he would be in the same house as that Lily girl...maybe, just maybe...

After a while, McGonagall reached the end of the list. "Kristin Wright." Kiki walked up and sat down. _Wright...two households held in that name. Your father was a Gryffindor, your mother a Ravenclaw. You have the mixed abilities of both, but the Gryffindor side comes out stronger. You're easy like the Black girl and Potter boy..._ "Gryffindor!" Kiki released the breath she didn't know she was holding and joined Harmony and Lily at the table.

The next day, the first year Gryffindors were on their way to Potions with the first year Slytherins. James, Sirius, Peter and Remus were walking and talking animatedly to those around them. Even shy Remus and timid Peter. Harmony, Lily and Kiki were separated from the boys by choice and were talking with some of the girls nearby. They made it to the dungeons where Professor Orlick was waiting.

"Welcome to your first Potions class," she said, smiling. "I hope this won't be a fearsome class, but I will tell you this: I will not take goofing off lightly. Understood?" She watched as the students nodded their heads. "Now, I will pair you off by house and with the opposite gender." She read off a prepared list and the students met each other. Sirius and Lily were paired, much to the latter' dislike and the former's best friend's jealousy. Peter and Kiki were paired together and sat next to Slytherin Severus Snape and Narcissa. Harmony and Remus were paired together.

The two just sat there, not knowing what to talk about while Professor Orlick instructed them. "So, ever brew a potion before?" Harmony asked. Remus only shook his head. "Me neither. This should be interesting."

Twenty minutes later... "I think we were supposed to add something before turning down the fire."

"Are you sure, Harmony?"

"Um...no, Remus, I'm not."

"So..."

"Don't. Even. Go. There. Black."

"Peter, you know what?"

"What?"

"Just let me handle the potion."

"Ooh, look Severus, Peter Pettigrew can't handle a potion."

"At least his partner can..."

"Sev, don't tell me you have a crush on a _Gryffindor._"

"Professor, why did you pair me with Sibyll? She's always talking about..."

"James, I sense your aura is off."

"That!"

With that, an explosion rocked the dungeon. Professor Orlick scanned the room for the offending cauldron. She immediately became worried when she saw Harmony trying to revive Remus, and ran to gather up the boy. "Anderson, clean this up and five points from Gryffindor."

"Can't I go with him?" Harmony asked, concerned for her partner. Orlick gave her a look and dismissed the class. Only Lily and Kiki hung back to help clean the dungeons, while Severus Snape hid behind the dungeon doors to spy more on Kiki. James, Sirius and Peter rushed to the hospital and away from a nagging Narcissa.

"Will he be alright, Poppy?"

"Don't worry, Sabrina, he'll be fine. Just a bump on the head. He'll probably be a little dazed for the day, though."

"I was just so worried. You know Albus told us about his condition...I just don't know what to expect!"

"I understand, Sabrina, but I spent some time in St. Mungo's, remember? I can easily handle this. They are a lot stronger than they seem—even Mr. Lupin here. Ah, good morning sunshine!"

James and Sirius were huddled by the door, listening in on the conversation. James turned to Peter, who was the look out and mouthed "He's alright" to the smaller boy. In return, Peter look relieved, but only for a bit. He tensed up and gave his new friends the "someone's coming" sign. The two backed away from the door, but sighed when they saw it was only Harmony.

"Is he alright?" she asked, very concerned.

"He's going to be fine," James said. "That's what Madame Pomfrey was just saying."

Harmony looked relieved. "She came out and told you?"

"Uh," James said, nervously, "no."

"We eavesdropped," Sirius stated proudly. "But what do you think she meant of his 'condition?'" Harmony, James, and Peter could only shrug in response.

"Well, I think I know," came a slimy, cold voice. The four turned to see Severus Snape standing there. "He suffers from the same thing our dear Miss Anderson here suffers from."

"And what's that, Snape?" Harmony asked, slightly annoyed.

"Isuckatpotionsitis. Common disease really. Only a few are fully immune," Snape said, smugly.

Sirius couldn't stand this git any longer. "Oh, and I guess you consider yourself one of those few, don't you?"

Snape pulled himself up. "If you must know, yes I do." He sniffed and looked down at Sirius, who was still actually crouching by the door. "But," he drawled, "at least I'm not a disgrace to my family by ending up in Gryffindor and hanging out with half-breeds!"

Sirius and James decided they had had enough and pulled out their wands. "Now, now, we wouldn't want to do anything rash," came another cold voice. A tall boy with platinum blonde hair and a sneer came from the shadows.

"Lucius Malfoy!" Harmony gasped, while Sirius and James continued to stew. "What are you doing here?"

"My family and the Snapes are close, and they asked me to keep an eye on him. Now, don't make me have to hurt you. After all, I am a Seventh year."

"And not afraid of trying anything dark or illegal," Harmony snorted, creating more tension.

They were saved when Alice came through the halls. "Malfoy! Snape! What are you doing here?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Why don't you ask them?" Malfoy asked, challenging the Head Girl.

Alice didn't lose her temper. "Because," she said, enunciating every word for emphasis, "I know why they are here. They're friend is in the hospital wing for a potions injury. Now you two on the other hand have no reason, so scat before I take away ten points from Slytherin."

Malfoy and Snape made no move to leave. "Fine," Alice said. "Ten points from Slytherin."

"Fine, see if we care," Snape said while Malfoy laughed. He proudly patted the younger boy's shoulder.

Alice smiled. "Each. Don't make me take twenty more points from Slytherin," she said. This finally got to the two and they turned to leave. She turned to the four. "Tell your friend I hope he gets better."

Harmony smiled. "We will. Thanks, Alice!" At that point, the door opened and a slightly dazed Remus stumbled out. "Remus!" Harmony cried, catching his right arm as James caught his left.

"Hey, guys, sorry about that. How many classes did I miss?" he asked, leaning heavily on his two supports.

"Every one today," James responded. "But don't worry, you basically missed the introductions to everything. So let's just get you back to the common room. Harmony if you can't handle him, Sirius can take over."

The five stumbled into the Gryffindor common room and got Remus to the couch. "You just rest now," Harmony said, as sat down next to him. James, Sirius and Peter joined her as Kiki and Lily came over.

"Thanks. You guys really are friends," Remus said, though not really focusing on anyone.

Lily patted his hand. "Don't worry, you can use my notes to catch up. But not tonight. I think we should ask McGonagall to send up food from the kitchens."

"I missed lunch?"

"And dinner," Lily said. She turned but there was McGonagall with a tray of steaming food.

"One ahead of you, Miss Evans," the Transfiguration teacher said. "But in the future, it's Professor McGonagall."

Lily blushed as Remus tried to eat his meal. "Someone help Mr. Lupin and then get him to bed. Goodnight," she said.

"Night, Professor," they chimed before Kiki grabbed the fork out of Remus' hand. She then proceeded to feed him, much to the boy's disapproval.

"I can do it myself!" Remus argued. "But thanks anyway. You all are great friends, even if some of you can't stand each other." From that moment on, the seven of them would stick together through the good, the bad, and the Snape.


	6. How to Wait for a Baby 101

A Day to Remember

There was a ringing, that was all he was dimly aware. Why was there a ringing noise? Remus Lupin turned over in the bed as the ringing stopped. He sighed and was fully ready to fall back asleep when a loud crack disrupted the room. And he was soon on the floor, fully awake.

The angry face of his girlfriend, Harmony Anderson, was not a sight he liked to see at...4 A.M. "Mony, please, it's FOUR in the MORNING? What did I do now?" he asked.

"Didn't answer the phone," Harmony replied, arms crossed. She wasn't dressed in her normal robes, but in jeans, a red shirt and a denim jacket. And she was still angry.

"And is that a crime?" he asked, teasing her—it was too early for his common sense to kick in.

Harmony pulled him up and punched him in the arm. "It is when your best friend is expecting a baby," she said. That woke Remus up immediately.

"Lily's in labor?" he asked. Harmony nodded and started throwing clothes at her boyfriend. He was dressed in a matter of minutes. "Now what?"

"Now, we go get the other person who won't answer their phone," Harmony said, dragging Remus out of his house to the small apartment attached to it.

"But, Mony, I hate waking up Sirius," he whined. Harmony shot him a glance and pushed him inside. "Remind me to tell Sirius to start locking his doors. Oh Merlin, this is going to be even harder."

For Sirius Black was lying on his carpet, passed out. "You think he's drunk?" Remus asked Harmony. She leaned down, sniffed and shook her head. Remus then proceeded to shake his friend with his foot.

"Five more minutes, Remus, five more minutes...save me a seat in the Great Hall," the man said, turning over. "And some breakfast. James, don't eat all of it. What's for breakfast anyway?"

"We're having a warm serving of my fist, followed by the refreshment of the night air and finished with a BABY!" Harmony screamed into Sirius' ear. Remus swore the man jumped 5 feet into the air.

Sirius landed in front of Remus, panting heavily. "Come on, idiot, we have to get to the hospital to support Lily and Prongs," he said, grabbing his friend's arm. Harmony came running behind them.

Lily Potter didn't know the labor was going to be this painful. Sure, her mother had told her it wasn't going to pretty, but this was beyond not pretty. This was pretty painful. And no one in St. Mungo's seemed to care she was screaming at the top of the lungs.

"James Potter, when I am done giving birth to YOUR child, I am going to kill YOU for all this PAIN that YOU have put ME through!" she cried, squeezing a hand.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, Lil, save this for your husband," the hand's owner pleaded. Kristin Wright watched her appendage turn purple from all the pressure her best friend was placing on it. "James, hurry up and check her in before I lose all feeling in my hand!"

"Sorry, Kiki," James Potter said, running up to his wife's gurney. "Good news, Lil, they're moving you to a room and are going to give you a potion to ease the pain." He took his wife's hand, which she immediately squeezed in pain. Kiki could only scowl at James' expression.

The doors to the ward slammed open and Sirius came running down the hall. "We're having a baby!" he cried, passing the nurses. They gave the Potters a weird look and became suddenly standoffish.

"Uh," James said, coming up to explain. "That's my best friend, Sirius Black. You see..."

The head nurse held her hand up. "Say no more. We've dealt with him before," she said. "Now, let's get your wife into a room. She has to dilate some more."

"How much longer will it take?" Lily asked, panting heavily and crushing Sirius' hand now.

The nurse walked up to the woman. "I'm not going to lie and say not much longer. I don't know how long this will take. You're dilating slowly right now, so I don't think you're going to be giving birth within the next hour. I'll check on you afterwards." With that, Lily was being rolled down the hall, James chasing after her and the nurse.

Kiki, Sirius, Harmony and Remus followed shortly behind and took the seats in the waiting room closest to their friend's room. At that moment, Peter Pettigrew showed up, scurrying across the room. "Sorry I'm late...I had a hard time apparating," he explained nervously.

"That's alright, Wormtail, as long as you made it," Sirius said, patting a seat next to him. After two cups of coffee, the man was in a certainly better mood. And jumpy. "I can't believe Lily and James are having a baby! I can't believe Lily and James are having a baby!" he chanted in a sing-song manner.

"Well, calm down," Remus said, leaning back in the chair. "I'm going to catch a short nap. Wake me up if there's any news." With that he closed his eyes and felt Harmony lean her head on his chest. He slung his arm over her shoulders, pressing her closer and fell asleep.

That left Sirius and Kiki to their own devices as Peter decided to take a nap as well. "So, Sirius, how many cups of coffee have you had today?" Kiki asked, making small talk. Sirius only grinned and took another sip. "Merlin, I think you've had enough, Snuffles."

"You can never have too much coffee," Sirius scoffed. "And don't call me Snuffles in public when I'm not in my dog form."

"Not so loud! You're an unregistered animagus, idiot! We don't need the Ministry on yours, Peter's and James' backs. Especially James' now that he's going to be a father," Kiki scolded.

"Good point, but we're the only ones in this waiting room," Sirius pointed out. Kiki responded by punching him. "Ow."

"Well, you deserved it." Kiki said as an owl flew into the room. "Mercury!" she said, recognizing the bird.

A passing nurse picked into the room and made a sound of disapproval. "Miss," she addressed Kiki, "we don't' allow owls in this part of the hospital. I'm afraid you will either have to send it back or step outside with it."

Kiki blushed but quickly took off the letter attached to the owl's leg. She then gave it the signal to fly off, which it promptly did. "That's better," the nurse said. "Thank you."

"What is it?" Sirius grabbed the letter out of Kiki's hand. "Dear Kiki, meet me tonight at eight o'clock. Send your reply with Mercury if you can. Love, Sev."

The atmosphere of the room suddenly grew incredibly dark and Peter scurried away, claiming to have to use the bathroom. Sirius crumbled up the paper, drew out his wand and set fire to the letter. Kiki jumped up enraged.

"How dare you!" she yelled at her friend. "That was MY letter! You had no right to destroy it!"

"I had every right to destroy it! I'm telling you, Kiki, don't get too involved with Snape. He's only trouble," Sirius said, trying to reason with her.

"No, Sirius Black, that title belongs to you," Kiki said, anger seething. "Severus has a rational head on his shoulders."

"You mean a greasy head. I could probably ring out his hair and have enough to grease my motorbike—and then some."

"You take that back right now!" Kiki pointed her wand at Sirius' neck. "Or I'll hex you into kingdom come! You'll be so grateful you're already in St. Mungo's."

"Kiki, put the wand down NOW!" came James' voice. He stood out in the hallway, a bucket of ice in his hand. Kiki lowered her hand and turned to James, questioning him. "Lily wanted ice—they say it helps. And I don't want the day my son or daughter is born to be marred by the fact one of our closest friends killed his/her godfather."

"Kiki, here, come sit by me," Harmony said. She and Remus had woken up in time for the conversation between James and Kiki.

Kiki shook her head. "No, I have to go compose a response to Severus' letter. I have to tell him I can't make it due to personal reasons," she said.

"Don't you dare tell him that Lily's giving birth!" Sirius ordered her.

"I'll do whatever I damn well please, Sirius Black," Kiki spat back out at him. "And if I want to tell him I'm in the hospital waiting for the birth of my first kid, I'll tell him so. And there's nothing you can do to stop me." With that, Kiki turned on her heels and walked out of the room to find the owlery.

Harmony stood up and hugged James. "You better get back to Lily. Her temper right now is worse then these two. Remus and I will handle them—you just focus on getting your wife through this labor," she said. "Where's Peter?"

"Probably left when these two began fighting," James said. "Thanks, Harmony." He turned towards Lily's room and walked down before the ice melted.

Remus stood up and kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. "I'll go find Peter," he said. Sirius stood up and insisted he would—it was partially his fault the man had left anyway. That left the couple together.

"When will he realize why Kiki's dating Snape?" Harmony asked.

Remus could only shake his head and shrug. "Sirius may be clever, but there are some things he's still quite slow about. Especially Kiki's heart. I think she's annoyed him from the beginning because he could never quite read her."

"I think that's what also draws them together."

"That and the fact they have the James-Lily complex."

"What, you mean the fact they are in love so they fight all the time?"

"Exactly," Remus said, sitting back down next to her. "How come we never fight?"

"Never fight?" Harmony laughed. "I believe we've had our deal of fights. It's just that with us, not every little thing becomes an argument. We don't have such explosive personalities."

"Alright. But still why Snape? And she's very defensive of him, too. Is that part of the act?"

"No, that's her guilt. She knows she's going to hurt him later so she prevents everybody else from. She would probably offer to be tortured by Voldemort instead of him."

"That's another problem—what if Voldemort finds out about Kiki and uses her to get Severus to do his bidding?"

"That's the risk she's taking. Merlin, Sirius better appreciate everything Kiki's doing for his love when he realizes it. If not, I'll hurt him after Severus is done," Harmony said as Kiki came back.

"Well, I sent him a response," she said. "I told him Lily's giving birth, but not to come down to the hospital. The last person she wants to see, after Sirius, is Severus right now."

"Speaking of owls, did anyone tell the Ministry five of its Aurors aren't going to be in?" Remus asked.

"And someone has to tell Dumbledore and the Order!" Harmony chimed in, getting up. "I'll go owl them."

"Just owl the ministry, I'm sure Severus will pass on the information to Albus." Kiki smiled at her friend as Harmony left.

Two hours later...

"WHY WON'T THIS BABY COME YET?"

"Lily, darling, please stay calm."

"Stay calm? Stay calm? James, you try to stay calm when you're in INCRUSIATING PAIN!"

Sirius awoke slightly. "Lily hasn't had baby yet?" he asked, slurring his words.

"No, Sirius," Remus replied. "Lily hasn't had the baby yet."

"Lily, my hand is turning purple."

"Aww, poor baby. Sorry if I don't seem sympathetic enough to YOUR pain when MY pain is worse.

Four hours later...

"Right hand red."

"Left foot blue."

"Well, this is certainly an interesting choice of waiting for a baby to come," Albus Dumbledore said, coming upon his former students and current Order members. Peter held the Twister spinner while the other five were tangled up.

"Left hand green," Peter read while everyone groaned and moaned to reach the new spot.

Sirius was able to get his head free from inside the group. "Maybe we should get Lily out here...they say movement helps induce labor, maybe it will also speed it up." The others, including Dumbledore, had a good laugh. But not everyone.

"SIRIUS BLACK, THAT WAS THE DUMBEST PLAN EVER! IF I WASN'T IN SO MUCH PAIN, I'D KILL YOU!"

Five hours later...

"Has it come yet?"

"No?"

"Now?"

"No."

Pause. "How about now?"

"Sirius, go get us something to drink from the cafeteria."

"Aw, but it's so far away, Kiki."

"Precisely."

Six hours later...

"I'm going out to get something to eat. Anyone want anything?"

"I'll have ham and cheese."

"Bologna."

"Make that two bolognas."

"I'll have ham, cheese, bologna, pepperoni, and turkey."

"Uh, I'll just have ham."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, I want my BABY!"

Seven hours later...

"With all the magical advancements of recent years, you would think that they would discover a way to magic the baby out without so much PAIN!"

"Just keep breathing, Lil."

"Oh, can it, Potter. I should've married Snape. Then I wouldn't be in so much pain."

"Uh, nurse?"

"Oh, that's just the pain, mixed in with the mild painkilling potion."

"Mild? Did you say MILD? STEP ME UP!"

"No, dear, you're doing fine."

"Does this look FINE to you?"

James stuck his head out into the waiting room. "Sirius, Remus, can you come in here and help subdue my wife?" he asked, sheepishly.

Eight hours later...

"Got any eights?"

"Go fish."

"Damn." Kiki picked up a card from the pile. "Your turn, Harmony."

Eight hours and fifteen minutes later...

"I am the king of this game. All must hail me, Sirius Black, king of the..."

"Rummy."

"Game...Hey!"

"Sorry, your majesty. Looks like Remus is the new king."

"Aw, Moony, I'll wrestle you for it."

"No thanks, Snuffles."

Eight and a half hours later...

Silence reigned supreme in the waiting room. One of the maternity ward nurses, afraid the group succeeded in killing each other, peeked. She had to hold back a laugh. Well, you would too if you saw five grown wizards and witches sitting around passing a card, each one sticking their tongue out.

All but one. "Hey, no fair! I wasn't looking!" Kiki cried.

"Too bad. That's how you play pig. You now have a P," Sirius said.

Nine hours later...

"Poke."

"Stop that."

"Poke."

"Stop!"

"Poke."

"Sirius, do you want to find yourself in a jar?" Kiki asked sweetly. Sirius got up and moved next to Remus.

"Poke." Remus only growled in response, so Sirius moved to Peter. The man head underneath a row of chairs. Sirius sighed and plopped next to Harmony.

"Poke."

"Kick."

"WILL YOU TWO CUT IT OUT OUT THERE? I'M TRYING TO GIVE BIRTH HERE!"

"Sorry, Lil," the two said, suddenly six inches tall.

"Hey, Sirius, enjoy that height?" Kiki asked.

Ten hours later...

"We've officially hit rock bottom," Kiki said, hanging upside down on the chair.

And it was true. Sirius had finally wasted all of his energy and was napping. Remus was reading a book Dumbledore brought him with the deck of cards. Harmony and Peter were using their wands to doodle on Sirius' face.

"It appears, love, that you are right," came a cold, slimy voice that would strike fear into any student's heart. Kiki jumped up, grabbed the voice's owner and ran out of the waiting room.

"I told you not to come down here!" she yelled at her boyfriend. Severus Snape could only smirk in response. "Tell me why you're here!"

"Quit your whining. I'm here because you've been here for ten hours," he said, rubbing her arm. "I thought you might like some time away from that imbecile and spend it with a real intellect."

"Well, Remus is reading a book right now and I've already spent time with him. Now would you please go?"

Severus pushed Kiki against the wall and kissed her passionately. "Can Remus do that?" he asked as she licked her lips. He took that as a "no, do it some more" and a make-out session began.

"Kiki, are you mad? Sirius is about to wake up. Lose the git," they heard Harmony whisper. The two pulled away, flushed and panting. "And you do this in the waiting room of a maternity ward? Haven't you been listening?"

"We are NEVER having sex AGAIN! You hear me, James? NEVER!" Lily came in just at the right minute.

Kiki looked at Severus. "You better go," she told him. He grabbed her arm in defiance.

"Sirius Black can't make me go," he said.

"Do I need to put you in a jar and owl you to Lucius Malfoy?" Kiki asked.

"Sirius Black can't make me go," he repeated.

"Is that a certain GIT I hear out here? Besides Padfoot, he's the LAST person I want to see. James, go and KILL him for me. After all I'm having YOUR child," Lily's voice came. Severus wisely decided to run away.

Eleven hours later...

"When will this child be born? I can't wait anymore! This is killing me!"

"I totally concur with that, Sirius."

"Wow, Lil, you just agreed with Sirius. Nurse, I think she's had enough painkilling potion now."

"Just in time. She's fully dilated. We'll take her into the birthing room now."

Eleven hours and twenty minutes later...

"It's a boy!" James cried, running out later. "I'm a father and I have a son!"

"I have a godson!" Sirius cried. The two men rushed and hugged each other, chanting, "We have a son!" over and over.

"Well, while you two celebrate, we're going to go visit Lily," Kiki said, locking arms with Harmony, who was holding Remus' hand. They pushed their way into their friend's room.

Lily sat in a hospital bed, looking sweaty and tired, but happy. She was holding a small white and blue bundle. "Oh, Lil," Kiki and Harmony cooed together. "What's his name?"

"Harry. Harry James Potter," Lily replied. Harry stuck a tiny fist out of his blankets and waved it around. Remus stroked the tiny fist, which soon encircled around his finger. "Isn't he cute?"

"Adorable," Remus said, hugging Harmony closer. James, Sirius and Peter came in and sat around Lily's bed, James sitting right next to her.

"Can I hold him? Sirius asked.

"No, you'll drop him," Lily stated, sweetly. "Besides, I'm still holding him."

"I'm his father, can I hold him?"

"No, you'll drop Harry, too."

"You're lucky you just gave birth to my son."

"Thanks, but you're still not holding him. You'll still drop him."


	7. Here Comes Santa Clause

Christmas Time Again

It was early morning and the castle that was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was quiet. The few occupants that were left in the castle were sound asleep as the first golden rays of day snuck into their rooms. One pale string of light found its path crossed over a sleeping boy with dark black hair and handsome looks. He flipped over, as if trying to block out the sun and what it meant, before blinking his eyes open a few times. There on his nightstand sat a candy cane with a ribbon and note attached: Merry Christmas from Headmaster Dumbledore and the other Hogwarts Professors.

The young man, Sirius Black, jumped up excitedly. Today was Christmas! He couldn't sleep late, now could he? He crept out of bed and looked around to see his other three roommates also still sound asleep. Well, now, that wouldn't do. He tiptoed silently over the bed next to him and looked at the mound of blankets with messy black hair sticking all over the place. Sirius had a devilish grin on as he realized how he could wake up the mound.

"Hey, James, Lily's in here and she's wearing the sexiest little number and asking for YOU."

Sirius smiled as the mound of blankets shot up to reveal his best friend, James Potter. Who was looking quite excited over the prospect of his girlfriend in lingerie. "Just kidding, mate, but I had to get you up. It's CHRISTMAS!"

James' face fell and he groaned. "That was not funny, Padfoot, getting my hopes up like that," he said, reaching for his glasses. After putting them and stretching, James hopped out of bed. "Happy Christmas, Padfoot."

Sirius smiled back. "Happy Christmas, Prongs. Shall we wake up Messiers Moony and Wormtail?"

"Yes, I believe we shall." The two crept across the room to tackle the shortest and easiest to awaken Marauder. James lifted up the mattress slightly while Sirius grabbed the blankets. On the count of three, Sirius tore off the covers while James tipped over the mattress. The result was that Peter Pettigrew ended up rather unceremoniously on the floor next to his bed, James and Sirius smiling at him.

Peter rubbed his sore bottom as he stood up. "What was that for?" he asked.

"Happy Christmas, Wormtail!" the other two chanted. James placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Sorry to be rough. But hey, want to help us wake up Remus?" Peter nodded and the three approached the last occupied bed.

Remus Lupin was unaware of the looks being given to him as he was still in his own dream world. A small smile graced his face as he rolled over, moaning something. "Did he just moan Harmony's name?" Sirius asked James and Peter. The little one shrugged while James had a lopsided grin. At the same time, he and Sirius mouthed, "Blackmail."

The three sat there, pondering about how to wake up their friend. Sirius didn't like to use the same tactic twice, no matter how funny it would be to watch Remus' face turn red at the mention of Harmony's name. Plus, Remus was too gentlemanly to appear ecstatic over a girl—no matter how much Sirius, James and Peter knew he liked her—coming to seduce him.

Suddenly James had an idea and he leaned over to whisper it in Sirius' ear. The other boy nodded and made his voice sound all panicky. "Oh my Merlin! Remus! Come quick! We were just informed that two Slytherins are trying to kidnap Harmony!"

Remus sat up, breathing quickly and focused in on Sirius. Within a few minutes, he fell back down on his pillow, groaning. "I can't believe I just fell for that!" he said, putting a pillow over his face.

"Come on, Moony, it is Christmas. Get out of bed and downstairs so we can open up PRESENTS!" Moony glared at Sirius before getting up and putting on his bathrobe. With a smile, Sirius led his three friends down to their common rooms.

Kristin Wright woke up around the same time as Sirius. She stretched, put on her bathrobe and took in her room. The fourth member of her dorm cluster was home for the holidays, leaving her with her two best friends. Without a single thought, she cannon balled on to the bed next to her. The occupant of said bed shot up about three feet in the air before landing as a pile of blonde hair, red pajamas and gold sheets.

"Kiki, what the bloody hell was that for?" the girl yelled at her friend.

"It's Christmas, Harmony," Kiki said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Happy Christmas. Now, let's go wake up Miss Lily Evans over there."

Harmony, now fully awake, glanced over at the other occupied bed. "You can go wake her up. I'm not that suicidal," Harmony said. "I have no reason to die yet."

"Of course not. You and Remus haven't even kissed yet, for Merlin's sake." Kiki dodged the pillow hurled at her. "Fine! I'll leave you to have romantic thoughts about Remus while I go risk my life waking Lil up."

"Hey, don't try to guilt me. It was your idea. And need I mention that you're most likely to have some romantic thoughts about a certain slimy Slytherin?"

Kiki looked over her friend and then stormed to the other side of the room, muttering about something under her breath. She reached over to Lily's bed, where all that could be seen of the girl was her mass of red hair on the pillow. The idea of how to wake up her friend came from seeing the state of her friend's hair. "Hey, Lily, FRIZ ALERT!"

Lily Evans jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom with her wand, ready to cast all the needed charms to get her hair to flatten out. "Great, now she's going to be in there all morning," Harmony said, sitting Indian-style on her bed. "And then Sirius will call up from the Common room about how we are keeping the boys and I don't feel like dealing with that."

"Of course," Kiki replied, plopping down on her bed to wait for her other friend. "You need to conserve your energy for avoiding the mistletoe whenever you're with Remus so he doesn't realize that you have a crush on him."

Harmony was now glaring daggers at his friend. "It's Christmas. Can we put everything aside? Just for today at least? Or else your crush on a certain Marauder may accidentally slip out at some point today. Most likely under relocated mistletoe," she said.

Kiki held her hands up to surrender as Lily came out of the bathroom. She threw open the curtains of the room and stared outside. "Snow. You are my worst enemy!" she yelled, shaking a fist. In a resigned sigh, Lily grabbed a nearby ponytail holder and threw her messy hair up into a messier bun. "Alright. Let's not keep the boys waiting," she told her friends. Kiki and Harmony shrugged before leaping off their beds to follow the redhead.

Sirius was pacing circles around the giant Christmas tree McGonagall had the house elves set up in the common room. "Where could they be? Normally Kiki and I have the uncanny ability to wake up at the same time on Christmas and get everyone up," he ranted.

James snorted. "By means of annoying us until we wake up to clobber you." At a look from his friend, James sighed. "Look," he said, "I'm sure that they will be down shortly. Maybe they decided to sleep in a little longer."

"Or lock Kiki in a closet so she didn't wake them up," Remus joked. "Maybe we should try doing that with Sirius."

"Ooo. If we, can I help? Sirius is the second person on my list of what I want to lock in a closet!" Kiki said, vaulting over the couch and landing in between Sirius and Peter.

Sirius stared at her. "I'm the second? Who's first?"

"Mrs. Norris," Kiki stated, mocking hurt that it wasn't obvious. "Who else?" Lily giggled as she plopped herself down on James' lap and Harmony curled up on the chair Remus was leaning against. Kiki turned and faced the entire group. "I think it's that time…" she said.

"PRESENTS!"

"Kiki, Sirius, say it louder. I don't think they heard you in AUSTRALIA!" Harmony replied, rolling her eyes. But nonetheless, she leaned over and picked up two presents. "If it will get you two to SHUT UP, you can start opening mine to you two."

Harmony tossed the two boxes so Kiki and Sirius could rip into them. Pulling out Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, they smiled and started eating them right away. Their blonde friend merely shook her head and then handed out the rest of her presents to her friends.

It was a tradition that stretched back to their first year of Hogwarts. The seven had stood around the Christmas tree and debated how to best open the presents. Sirius and James had wanted to dive head first into the presents are start opening everyone with their names on them. Lily, the voice of reason, had decided that each friend would hand out their presents to the others to open.

Harmony had mostly gotten her friends either Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans or new quills. Except Remus, who she gave him a new sweater to wear after transformations, since his werewolf form always ended up ripping his clothes. "It's wolf-proof," she said.

Remus decided to go next, tossing the smallest of his gifts to his fellow Marauders. The three tore them open and smiled upon seeing Chocolate Frogs. He had given Lily that book she had been eyeing for some time, a scarf for Kiki (since it was kinda his fault that she no longer had one) and a notebook and pen for Harmony to write down all her story ideas.

Peter decided to pass his around. He had gotten everyone personalized ink bottles. Sirius and James got a laugh when Peter's ears turned red when everyone fawned over his gifts. Of course, the taunting only lead to his ears turning so red, one could've sworn they were purple. So, to save him from further embarrassment, Lily untangled herself from her boyfriend's arms and went to distribute her gifts. She gave Kiki and Harmony two best friend pendants. For Sirius, she got him a new leash—to connect to the collar she and the girls had gotten him last year. Remus and Peter received two new quills while she gave James a picture of them dancing around the Hogwarts' courtyard.

James kissed Lily, pressing his gift into her hand before going to get his other friends'. Lily opened the small box to find a beautiful locket inside. "Oh, James," she cooed, as her boyfriend had a sheepish smile on his face. He tossed Sirius his gift, which was more candy for the boy to get sugar high off of.

"Oh great, James, what are you thinking? He'll be bouncing off the walls all night!" Remus groaned. "Now I'll never get to sleep!" Sirius tossed a pillow at Remus, knocking the boy to the ground. "Low blow, Padfoot, low blow," they heard the brown haired boy moan. Sirius merely smiled as he distributed his presents.

James ripped open his gift excitedly to find a broom warmer. "Sweet!" he exclaimed, high fiving Sirius. "This will be perfect for those winter matches!"

"I know," Sirius nodded. "That's why I got myself one as well. I hate a cold broom."

The others shrugged and opened their presents. Obviously, the personalized gifts stopped only at James since they seemed to get the same things. "Honeydukes' candies," Kiki said. "I feel so loved right now. Anyway, my turn. Am I the last one?" Everyone nodded as Kiki distributed her gifts.

Lily received a book containing new spells to help control her morning frizz. Harmony and Remus received the latest books in defense against the dark arts while Peter received a book about the history of animagi. "There's an interesting chapter about famous rat animagi you might like," Kiki said, since Peter was always self-conscious of his animagi form. James and Sirius then both received self-help books: "How I Finally Let Go of my Intense Quidditch Obsession." The others dissolved into giggles at the indignant looks on the two friends' faces.

That night was the second part of the Marauder and HM annual Christmas tradition: the party that lasts into the early hours in the morning (or whenever McGonagall came in to kick them to their rooms for sleep). After dinner in the Great Hall with everyone who had remained at Hogwarts for the holidays (including Severus Snape, much to the disgust of the Marauders), the Gryffindors marched back to their house to change for the festivities that night.

Sirius paced in the bathroom, ignoring the shouts of irritation coming from his friends on the other side. This was their last Christmas party in Hogwarts and they needed to go out with a bang! Unfortunately, Filch had found their secret stash of fireworks and had properly disposed of them. They had to be extra careful because the groundskeeper still had yet to pin the illegal explosives on the Marauders.

Sirius ran a hand through his neck length hair and tied it back into a ponytail, mentally going over the checklist. Butterbeer—check. He and James had asked the house elves to store it for them and to only let one of the Marauders or HMs into the store. The bottle of firewhisky—check, safely hidden under a loose board under his bed. He and James had had Kiki charm their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher while the two boys snuck in the alcohol from Hogsmeade. Loads of candy? Check! Honeydukes loved the annual Christmas party just because of how much sugar the seven Gryffindors could consume in one night. Mistletoe? Check! Charmed to make sure that James got plenty of snogging time with Lily and that Remus might finally kiss Harmony.

But they still needed something…something unforgettable! Something that they would be talking about for years. Something that their children will want to duplicate or at least attempt to live up to when they attend Hogwarts. He suddenly came up with an idea and, smiling, he finally opened the bathroom door. "About time," Remus grumbled. "What took you so long? Did you fall in?" Sirius merely shrugged as he sat down on his bed. Remus shook his head and made a mad dash to the bathroom but Peter had transformed into a rat, de-transformed and already locked the door. "Damn it!"

"What could possibly be taking them so long?" Lily asked, smoothing out the (nonexistent) wrinkles in her knee length green velvet dress. She had finally gotten control over her frizz thanks to some of the charms in the book Kiki had given her and now her red hair cascaded in perfect ringlets from a ponytail holder.

Kiki was slumped on the couch, her black hair and blue highlights spread all over. "Lily, stop that!" she scolded. "And come on, Sirius takes twice as long as the three of us combined to get ready. They're probably trying to pull him out of the bathroom."

Harmony snorted from her place by the fire. She, Lily and Kiki were all wearing the same style of dress, just in different colors. Hers was red while Kiki's was blue. The sleeves were lace, decorated with little flowers and they had square necklines, decorated with little rhinestones. Her blonde hair was done into a beautiful French braid and tied off with a red ribbon tied into a big bow. She tapped the two-inch heel of one her black shoes against the floor as they continued to wait.

After an eternity, the four boys came tumbling down the stairs and landed in a pile of red and black at the bottom of the stairs, Sirius on top smiling like a mad man. "Whoops. Looks like I accidentally missed the first step," he said, shrugging as he stood up.

"Accidentally my foot," James muttered after Remus and Peter got off of him. He brushed himself off and turned to face his girlfriend. And his jaw dropped open. "Lily," he said, when he recovered his voice, "you look absolutely stunning!" Lily smiled and kissed James passionately.

Kiki and Sirius looked on in disgust while the other three diverted their attentions to other things. After a few minutes, Kiki had had enough. "Are you two going to inspect each other's tonsils all night or are we going to celebrate our last Christmas in Hogwarts?" she asked, arms crossed and tapping her foot hurriedly.

James broke away and looked smugly at Kiki. "For your information, it would impossible for Lily and me to inspect the other's tonsils. I had mine removed a year before I came to Hogwarts." With that, he stuck out his tongue at her, which only served to rile her up more. Giving a feral roar, Kiki lunged for the wizard and the two began a chase around the Common room, out through the portrait and down the hallway.

Those still inside merely shrugged and started the party. Earlier, Lily had sent the request down to the kitchen for the house elves to bring up their stores of butterbeer and the five eagerly dived into the delicious drink. Next, they started onto the candy as Kiki and James returned, frowning. At Lily's inquisitive look, Kiki merely shrugged and said, "Finch. Didn't like the noise we were making near her Muggle Studies classroom. Honestly, doesn't she go home for Christmas?"

After that, the party preceded normally. The candy was devoured within two hours and the butterbeer was close to being carefully rationed by Remus after three and half. Near eleven-thirty, James and Harmony broke through the charms placed on electronics and were able to get many "poppy" Christmas songs playing and everyone started dancing. No one noticed Sirius slip out about a quarter to midnight…

When it reached midnight, James climbed upstairs to retrieve the bottle of firewhiskey hidden under Sirius' bed. He walked back down and tried to find Sirius. It was their own personal tradition—they would open the bottle together and take the first sips. But his best friend was no where to be found. He tapped Kiki on the shoulder as she levitated a piece of mistletoe over Remus and Harmony. "Hey," he said. "Have you seen Sirius?"

"Come to think of it, no. I haven't seen him for a while," Kiki replied, never breaking her concentration. "Sorry." James shrugged and watched as the charmed mistletoe wouldn't let the embarrassed teens go until they kissed. However, the charm wasn't as good as anyone (outside of Remus and Harmony) would've liked and it only took friendly pecks on the cheek to be released.

James found Lily and Peter roasting marshmallows over Gryffindor's fire. "Have either of you seen Sirius?"

"I thought it was unusually quiet," Lily said, standing up. "Don't worry, James, I'm sure he'll pop up soon." She leaned in and gave him a kiss. Pulling back, she noticed what he was holding. "James Potter, is that firewhiskey?"

"Aww, Lil, its tradition. And besides, we're adults in the wizarding world now," James whined.

"It's still not allowed in any Hogwarts dorm!" But James could see that Lily had already given up and he kissed her on the cheek.

Suddenly, there came the sound of sleigh bells. The portrait swung open and in walked…Santa Claus? He was dressed in a red suit, with that belly that shook like a bowl full of jelly, a white beard, black boats and matching red hat. "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!" he said.

"Actually, Santa, it's the day after Christmas," Kiki replied.

"Then Happy Boxing Day!" Santa said, sitting down on one of the big red chairs. "Now who wants to sit on Santa's lap?"

James, Kiki, Remus, Lily and Harmony all looked at each other. They had already processed who "Santa" was and they were surprised he could pull it off. Only Peter was confused and Kiki bent down to whisper, "It's Sirius, Wormtail." Peter nodded.

Meanwhile "Santa" was starting to get a bit restless. "Come on, someone's got to sit on my lap," he said, in a bit of a whine.

Kiki plopped herself down on his lap and threw her arms around his neck. "Now Santa," she said, in a sultry tone, "you don't need to whine."

"Santa" seemed a little taken back by the tone the witch was using, but he recovered quickly. "No, I don't. So, what would you like for boxing day?"

"Hmm…what do I want? Well, would you prefer the full version or the PG version?"

"Never mind, I doubt I want to hear either versions," replied "Santa." Kiki gave "Santa" a peck on the cheek and hopped off the lap. "Um, who is next? Lily, wanna have a go?"

"Uh, okay," Lily said, cautiously sitting down on "Santa's" lap. "Let me see, what do I want for Boxing Day? Well, I want my boyfriend—that was my BUM!" Lily leapt up, holding her rear where "Santa" had pinched it. James put his arms around his girlfriend and glared at the now laughing "Santa." He walked away, muttering something about sweet revenge.

At that moment, the portrait swung open and a very unhappy Head of House walked in. She stopped in front of the group. "I should've known it would be you seven," she said, arms crossed. "Do you have any idea what time it is? It's almost one o'clock. Now, I know there are no classes tomorrow, but you should be asleep! Or not making enough noise to wake the—Mr. Black, what the devil are you doing?"

"Santa" pulled Professor McGonagall onto his lap. "So, Professor, what would you like for Boxing Day?" he asked, sweetly. McGonagall could only sputter while the other Gryffindors could only laugh.

Someone else walked in to the Common room. "Minerva? Are you in hear?" they heard the Headmaster ask. The others stopped their laughing and looked at Albus Dumbledore. He only chuckled at the scene before him. He walked over and helped his Deputy off "Santa's" lap.

"Thank you, Albus," McGonagall said, smoothing out her bathrobe. But then her jaw dropped—as did seven other jaws—when Albus sat down on "Santa's" lap. "Albus, what are you doing?

"Having some Holiday fun, my dear," Albus replied. He turned to "Santa" who had finally closed his mouth. "Now, for Boxing Day, I would like a nice new pair of socks."

"Albus, you received about twenty already today, er, yesterday," McGonagall said, fighting a smile that threatened to grace her face.

Albus smiled at her. "Ah, but you can never have too many socks," he said, standing up. "Happy Christmas, you all. Keep it down, please?" With that, the two professors swept out of the room.

"Imagine that," James said, a little shocked. "Santa" let down his shields and looked like regular Sirius.

"I know," Kiki said. "Who would've thought that both McGonagall and Dumbledore would've sat on Sirius' lap?" She jerked her thumb at Sirius.

Sirius pretended to be huffy. "Of course! I'm their favorite pupil!"

"Right." Remus rolled his eyes.

"I am."

Now Harmony and Lily got in on the act. "Sure you are," they said together. Sirius merely crossed his arms.

James shook his head. "I meant that we forgot to hide the firewhiskey and they didn't seem to notice it," he said, holding up the bottle. The other seven looked at each other and shook. "Anyway," James continued, "Sirius, shall we?" Sirius nodded and soon everyone was drinking some of the whiskey—even Miss Head Girl, Lily Evans.

Downstairs, Minerva checked on her two sleeping children. "Minerva, Eden and Riley are teenagers, I don't think you have to check on them," Albus called from their bedroom. Minerva smiled and closed Riley's door so she could join her husband.

"They're still my babies, Albus," she whispered, climbing back into bed. "I can't believe that Sirius dressed up as Santa. And he had the audacity to pull me onto his lap. Or that you would sit on his lap too!" She turned to Albus. "And socks? Aberforth has his goats; you have your socks."

Albus giggled and extinguished the candles with a wave of his hands. The two snuggled deeper under the covers and Albus whispered, "I only said socks because I couldn't say what I really wanted for Boxing Day."

"ALBUS!"

* * *

A/N: Merry Christmas to all my readers! And to the ones who usually read "Elaborate Lives" just in case I don't get a chance to update that before Christmas…but I figure I should…somehow…anyway, thanks especially to yeah whatever and FireDevaKitsuneKarma… 


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